FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 21, 2019
WALNUT CREEK, CA—On September 7, Save Mount Diablo is hosting its 18th annual Moonlight on the Mountain, a dramatic outdoor event beneath the stars, held in Mount Diablo State Park along Mount Diablo’s stunning China Wall.
Guests are transported up the mountain’s slopes, where they are treated to an elegant three-course meal, live music, dancing beneath the stars, and both live and silent cocktail auctions—all while surrounded by the unparalleled, majestic views Mount Diablo has to offer.
This year’s Moonlight on the Mountain will feature special guest Obi Kaufmann, naturalist, artist, and writer, who is the author of The California Field Atlas (a regional bestseller featuring hundreds of watercolor paintings of maps, wildlife, and other aspects of nature) and The State of Water.
Guest speakers include Jason Caldwell and Dawn Lezak. Caldwell is a world-record holding athlete, a professional adventurer, and founder of Latitude 35 leadership, an organization that engages in leadership development for the world’s top business schools and private organizations. He holds the world record for the fastest four-person team to ever row across the Atlantic Ocean, and has won gold, silver, and bronze medals for rowing at the US Nationals. At Moonlight on the Mountain, he will be discussing the critical link between public health and public lands.
Dawn Lezak, an award-winning educator, teaches six-grade science and an EARTH class at Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School in Lafayette. She has been teaching in the Moraga School District since 1991. Lezak has partnered with Save Mount Diablo for the last three years in connecting kids more deeply to nature through Save Mount Diablo’s Conservation Collaboration Agreement program. She will speak about the critical link between public education and public lands.
Moonlight on the Mountain typically sells out, drawing a crowd of more than 500 individuals, including elected officials and conservation-minded corporate partners and local businesses.
Tickets are available at https://savemountdiablo.ejoinme.org/Moonlight2019.
The event benefits Save Mount Diablo by helping to raise essential funds that will allow it to continue mission-critical work: to preserve, defend, and restore the wild, natural landscapes and wildlife habitat at risk of development, right here in our backyard—for the public and future generations to enjoy.
The first Moonlight on the Mountain was held at China Wall within Mount Diablo State Park in 2002, in the same location that it continues to be held today. It was a relaxing, intimate evening and was attended by just 120 people.
Guests enjoyed a four-course meal and wine around their dining tables, illuminated only by battery lanterns and the light of the full moon. The dinner was accompanied by an acoustic string quartet ensemble. It was quite the undertaking for a small staff and group of volunteers to arrange everything, from planning the event to working the setup and breakdown of the affair. All in all, the first Moonlight gathering was a great success and it inspired Save Mount Diablo to continue to grow. Today, Save Mount Diablo has a much larger staff, hundreds of volunteers, and the event has grown to support 500+ attendees.
Sponsors of the 2019 Moonlight on the Mountain include Blackhawk Nunn; Concord Feed; Marathon; Jeanne Thomas; Cedar Wealth Management; KB Home; Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling, Inc.; Deutscher Properties Corporation; Shell Martinez Refinery; Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery; East Bay Regional Park District; CASS, Inc.; Beets Hospitality Group; Carlson, Barbee & Gibson, Inc.; ENGEO; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Miller Starr Regalia; FivePoint; Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean LLP; Summit Ranch; Diablo Analytical, Inc.; Plumbers & Steamfitters, Local 159; and LSA Associates, Inc.
Save Mount Diablo
Save Mount Diablo is a nationally accredited, nonprofit land trust founded in 1971 with a mission to preserve Mount Diablo’s peaks, surrounding foothills, and watersheds through land acquisition and preservation strategies designed to protect the mountain’s natural beauty, biological diversity, and historic and agricultural heritage; enhance our area’s quality of life; and provide recreational opportunities consistent with the protection of natural resources. To learn more and support Save Mount Diablo, please visit www.savemountdiablo.org.
High Resolution Images and Press Release Files:
Images: For all images, please credit Jessamyn Photography.
(#1) MOTM-2018_005 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#2) MOTM-2018_107 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#3) MOTM-2018_119 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#4) MOTM-2018_269 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#5) MOTM-2018_311 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#6) MOTM-2018_342 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#7) MOTM-2018_347 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#8) MOTM-2018_415 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#9) MOTM-2018_415 (Jessamyn Photography)
(#10) MOTM-2018_455 (Jessamyn Photography)
Captions
(#1) Save Mount Diablo supporter Deborah Wechsler checks out the silent auction at the 2018 Moonlight on the Mountain.
(#2) A group of young people enjoys hors d’oeuvres at China Wall in Mount Diablo State Park in 2018.
(#3) A couple poses at the hitching post with Mount Diablo State Park as their dazzling backdrop.
(#4) A couple celebrates Moonlight in front of the rocks of China Wall in Mount Diablo State Park in 2018.
(#5) Save Mount Diablo Land Programs Director Meredith Hendricks welcomes the crowd at the 2018 Moonlight on the Mountain.
(#6) A happy group of people make a toast at the 2018 Moonlight on the Mountain.
(#7) Close-up of a supporter listening intently to the speakers at the 2018 Moonlight on the Mountain.
(#8) View at sunset of the beautiful rolling hills in Mount Diablo State Park at the 2018 Moonlight on the Mountain.
(#9) View of oaks, hills, and the rock formations of Pine Canyon in Mount Diablo State Park as night falls at the 2018 Moonlight on the Mountain.
(#10) A volunteer proudly displays a poster showing the beauty of Independence Lake during the live auction at the 2018 Moonlight on the Mountain.
Key Contacts:
Karen Ferriere, Director of Annual Giving & Events;
T: (925) 949-4518; kferriere@savemountdiablo.org
Caleb Castle, Communications Manager, Save Mount Diablo;
T: (925) 947-3535 x17, C: (925) 451-8376, ccastle@savemountdiablo.org
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